Real estate practitioners need to adopt new strategies in the new year to give them a competitive edge, given that there are more than 2.5 million licensed real estate practitioners nationwide–all of them competing for work in a slow market.
The NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®’ 2007 Member Profile indicates that 88 percent of practitioners make half of their income from a specific niche, underscoring the importance of sales associates looking over their 2007 income information to determine what neighborhood, property type, or market segment generated the most money; they should then focus their efforts there.
Practitioners should use a variety of lead-generation strategies to increase business, as the NAR survey indicates that only a quarter of an associate’s income is tied to referrals. Additionally, experts highlight the need for associates to embrace wireless e-mail and text messaging to immediately respond to consumer inquiries while outside the office; and they also urge practitioners to create their own Web sites and develop sites for individual properties to gain more exposure.
Blogs also are effective lead generation tools, and podcasts can be used to provide local market information to contacts; however, just 2 percent of associates use blogs and 1 percent use podcasts on a regular basis. Finally, only 30 percent of practitioners have obtained designations; but such specialized training will distinguish them from their rivals and generate referrals from peers with similar designations.
Source: Inman News, Bernice Ross
